Rail-brace for railway-tracks.



A. M. BARFIELD. RAIL BRACE FOR RAILWAY TRACKS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.7,1913. I 1,066,782, Patented July 8, 1913.

UNITED STATES ALFRED M. BARFIELD,

RAIL-BRACE FOR OF WILLS POINT, TEXAS.

RAILWAY-TRACKS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J My 8, I 91 3.

Application filed April 7, 1913. Serial No. 759,362.

To (all whom it may concern:

lie it known that I, Anrnnn M. Banrinnn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of \Vills Point, in the county of Van Zandt and State of Texas, have made and invented certain new and useful Improvements in ltail l") 'aees for Railway Tracks, of which the following is a specificatii'm.

My invention relates to a new and use'tul improvement in rail braces for railroad tracks and more particularly to a brace, the length of which, may be changed to suit the existing conditions.

An object of my invention is to produce a rail brace that will act as a chair tor the rail and also brace the upper portion thereof.

Another object of my invention is to produce a rail brace that is in no way connected to the cross tie. I have found that braces connected to a wooden cross tie either by lag screws or spikes are only etlicient when the cross tie is practi sally a new one, for as soon as the weather a'lt'ects or rots the tie, the braces lose their desired tunction.

Another object of my invention is to produce a brace that may be readily secured to the rail either before 0' after the same has been secured to the cross tie.

lVith these and other objects in view my invention consists in certain new, and novel constructions and combinations of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of my llllproved brace showing a section of the rails. Fig. 2 is a top plan view. Fig. 3 is a view in elevation showing one of the parts of the inniroved brace being secured to the rail.

Referring now to the drawings, 1 and .2 are two similar rods or bars, provided on their inner end with right and left hand screw threads 3 and l. The bars are then flattened as 5 and 6 and have formed integral therewith the portions 7 and 8. These portions have formed on their inner ends the enlarged portions 9 and 10 which act as abutmcnts or stops for the rails 11 and 19.. I have shown these abutments extending above the top of the base of the rail so that there will be no danger of the rail slipping, and also the higher the abutment the stronger it will naturally be.

Formed on the outer ends of the portions 7 and 8 are the integral arms 12, and l-lthat extend upwardly, and in the contacting face o't each arm is formed a groove, so that the arms will contact with a portion o't' two of the faces oi the head oi the rails. This prevents any creeping or slipping ol the rails away from the arms which would be the case it the arms simply contacted with either the under or side iace oi the rail. The curve of these arms is termed by taking the lower joint ot the abutmcnls 9 and 10 as a cente and the width ol the base of the rail as a radius, and the arms thereby formed on the arc oi the circle. The necessity of forming the arms in this manner is so that my improved brace will readily pass over the base ot the rails when in position and so that the base will rest securely against the abutment and tl arm against the head of the rail as already described. A tap 17 is employed, having a polygonal surface 18 for the application of a wrench, and the op posite ends of this tap are provided with right and left screw threaded apertures 19 and 20, adapted to receive the inner ends of the rods 1 and 2.

To place my improved brace in position it is simply necessary to tilt each arm upward and pass the outer portion around the base of the rail and then secure the inner ends or the rods by the tap 17 turning the same of course till the rods are rigidly secured.

From the 'loregoing it will be seen that my brace is not secured in any way to the cross ties but on the other hand is set down between them and may be covered over by the stone ballast, and completely out of the way. Of course these braces may be placed on a straight track but are especially desirable where the track is curved, as this is where the greatest danger of spreading rails is always to be found.

By my form of construction the brace acts as a chair for the rail preventing sagging; as a brace for the base of the rail, and also bracing the head, and prevents both rails from spreading though not in any way secured to the tie.

\Vhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a rail brace, two brace rods having their inner ends right aml left hand screw threaded respectively, flattened portions formed integral with the outer ends 0f said brace rods, and provided with integral abutinents near their inner ends; curved arms formed on the outer ends of said portions, a longitudinal depression formed on the contacting faces of said arms and a tap provided with rightand left hand threaded apertures to receive the inner ends of said brace rods.

2. In a rail brace, two brace rods having their inner ends right and left hand screw threaded respectively, flattened portions formed integral with the outer ends of said brace rods, and provided with integral abutinents near their inner ends; curved arms formed on the outer ends of said portions on Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

